‘Enjoy The Pressure’ – Maresca On Final Run-In

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‘Enjoy The Pressure’ – Maresca On Final Run-In

Enzo Maresca has called on his Leicester City team to savour the environment they are in as the season run-in continues this weekend.

2024-03-02T07:00:00.000Z

by Sam Jones

Published

02 Mar, 2024

‘Enjoy The Pressure’ – Maresca On Final Run-In

Enzo Maresca has called on his Leicester City team to savour the environment they are in as the season run-in continues this weekend.

Sam Jones

2024-03-02T07:00:00.000Z

‘Enjoy The Pressure’ – Maresca On Final Run-In

Enzo Maresca has called on his Leicester City team to savour the environment they are in as the season run-in continues this weekend.

Sam Jones

2024-03-02T07:00:00.000Z

‘Enjoy The Pressure’ – Maresca On Final Run-In

Enzo Maresca has called on his Leicester City team to savour the environment they are in as the season run-in continues this weekend.

Sam Jones

2024-03-02T07:00:00.000Z

‘Enjoy The Pressure’ – Maresca On Final Run-In

Enzo Maresca has called on his Leicester City team to savour the environment they are in as the season run-in continues this weekend.

Sam Jones

2024-03-02T07:00:00.000Z

At the Sky Bet Championship summit for the majority of the campaign, Leicester have 12 more matches to play in the race for automatic promotion. The next opportunity to garner points comes against Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, in a 3pm GMT kick-off at King Power Stadium.

As Maresca explained in his pre-match press conference, it is being viewed as another potential stepping stone towards their end goal.

‘They are an attacking team now’

Standing in City’s way of a 26th league success of the season is a QPR side whose upturn in form makes them a dangerous opponent on Filbert Way, according to Maresca, who credited Martí Cifuentes for his work with a side who have been fighting relegation virtually all season.

“They completely changed with the new manager.,” the Italian said in his analysis of the Hoops. “I’m surprised because the way they are playing is completely different. They are an attacking team now; they try to keep the ball and we need to pay attention in the way we press tomorrow for sure.

“They are confident, 100 per cent. I saw them and watched their games. It’s nice to watch them. In the last seven games, they’ve won four, they drew two and they’ve lost just one. That means 14 points in seven games, which is an average of two points per game. That is probably promotion form.”

‘Finding the right balance’

Replacing Wilfred Ndidi has not been an easy task and Maresca discussed the player selections in that midfield role since losing the Nigerian, as well as the January departure of loanee Cesare Casadei. He believes the Foxes have demonstrated an ability to discover new solutions as the season moves on.

The 44-year-old stated: “We’ve also used Ricky (Ricardo Pereira) there in many games. That position is important because he has to defend like all the midfielders and he has to attack in a pocket. Cesare [Casadei] was doing that.

“The problem is now Cesare is not there and Wilf is not there, we need to find a midfielder who can defend like the others. Ricky is a full-back so he knows how to defend. Dennis [Praet] is more of an attacking midfielder.

“It’s a matter of finding the right balance, knowing that when we have Wilf, he is more of a defensive midfielder than a pocket player. Cesare was more of a holding midfielder with physicality. We try to improve them and find a no.8 who can help us defending and attacking.”

‘We analyse many things’

With the almost ever-present Jannik Vestergaard also absent due to suspension, a change is required in the centre of defence, though City’s Manager is confident in whoever who selects to play across the backline.

He explained: “As you can see, since we started, Jannik has done a fantastic job. Almost all of our attacking moments start from Jannik or Mads [Hermansen], one of them. Especially with Jannik, most of the time it starts from him. He recognises the free man, the spare man and the timing of it.

“He knows very well when to wait and when to attack the opponent. When we play well, it’s because the three and two players did the right process. Jannik is a main player there, but sometimes other players play there.

“Before we take a decision, we analyse and think about many things to give balance to the team. Also for transition, where they have quick players. Sometimes it is Hamza [Choudhury], sometimes it is Ricky, sometimes Callum [Doyle] plays or JJ (James Justin).”

‘Closer to the target’

Successive defeats have closed the gap at the top to six points, but with a confidence-boosting success away to Premier League opposition in the Emirates FA Cup behind them, full focus is on returning to winning ways in the league.

“Now we are in the final rush and all the games they are important,” Maresca added. “Every time you win a game, you see yourself closer to the target. Every time you drop points, you see the team in behind closing.

“Sometimes when you drop points you are a little bit upset, but it’s part of the game and hopefully soon we can be more relaxed. We have to enjoy that pressure because it’s much better to be where we are than mid-table and playing for nothing.

“We are happy and hopefully we can win tomorrow and continue our journey.”

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